Kyle Tucker contract with Dodgers shows how valuable Guardians' Jose Ramirez is

The Los Angeles Dodgers did what the Dodgers do and broke the baseball world when they announced they signed All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million contract.

Take that in reference to Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez, a perennial AL MVP candidate. Ramirez is making an average salary of just over $20 million. His total contract was seven years, $141 million. Tucker is making three times more per year than Jose Ramirez is, and that is just wrong.

Sure, Ramirez took a hometown discount when he signed his contract, but that does not mean he is not worth more than Tucker is.

Chicago Cubs right fielder Kyle Tucker reacts in the dug out after hitting a home run against the Milwaukee Brewers. | David Banks-Imagn Images

Guardians sit back as Tucker signs with Dodgers

Let us start with the stat everyone references when talking about value and MVP candidacy: WAR. Tucker’s highest career bWAR was in 2022 and 2023, when he had a WAR of 5.5 with the Houston Astros. He had a WAR of 4.7 in just 78 games with the Astros back in 2024, when he was a top MVP candidate before he sustained season-ending injuries.

Last year, with the Chicago Cubs, Tucker had a WAR of just 4.6. Mind you, he has been on teams that have had talent surrounding him; he was never the only guy that could hit in a given lineup. This means that pitchers could not pitch around him because there are just more dangerous bats behind him.

Compare that to Jose Ramirez, who has carried the Guardians’ offense largely by himself the past several seasons. He has had to deal with pitchers pitching him carefully, forcing him to draw more walks or take swings at more borderline pitches.

Ramirez’s WAR last year alone was 5.8. In 2024, it was 6.8. Ramirez’s career high in WAR was back in 2018 when he notched a WAR of 7.6. Ramirez has finished in the top six in MVP voting six times. Tucker has done that one time (5th in 2023). In fact, Ramirez has appeared on every AL MVP ballot since 2020, and three straight years from 2016-2018.

Ramirez outdoes Tucker in every category. Ramirez has a career batting average of .279, Tucker’s is .273. Ramirez averages 29 steals per year, Tucker only 25. Ramirez also has more total bases per year than Tucker does.

While Kyle Tucker may have broken baseball with his massive contract signing with the back-to-back defending World Series champions, many people say he is not worth that money. Aaron Judge is getting paid half of what Tucker is. Ramirez is getting paid one-third what Tucker is. Kyle Tucker and Shohei Ohtani alone are making more per year than 11 MLB teams’ entire payroll, including the Guardians. They are spending twice as much guaranteed money per year ($2.11 billion) as the next highest team (Padres).

The Dodgers are paying for it, though. As a luxury tax team, the Dodgers will pay an additional $60+ million a year to sign Kyle Tucker to his contract. It also forces the Dodgers to part ways with their second, third, fifth, and sixth highest picks in the upcoming MLB Draft.

With the luxury tax, the Dodgers will be paying $126 million a season for Tucker (assuming no deferrals). That's more than 11 teams' entire payrolls. This is absurd.https://t.co/uwe3cLpqXw
— Andrew Flax (@ajflax) January 16, 2026

A smaller detail of the Tucker news: He is the second player with a QO the Dodgers have signed this winter

As a luxury tax team, that means they will forfeit their second-, third-, fifth- and sixth-highest picks in next year's MLB draft

Dodgers used to be more wary of such…
— Jack Harris (@ByJackHarris) January 16, 2026

It is clear the Dodgers overpaid in an extreme way for a player who won’t even be in the top three best players on their roster. They are getting smacked with luxury tax bills and forfeitures. But they have Shohei Ohtani and World Series rings, plus a one-of-a-kind TV deal that allows them to spend all of this money without feeling any of the pitfalls.

Many are justifying the Kyle Tucker signing, by saying that any owner could spend like the Dodgers but “they just don’t want to win enough”. This is the most idiotic take I’ve ever seen. It shows you know nothing about the business side of the game.

MLB let Dodgers keep almost…
— Mission Valley Mafia (@MissionVlyMafia) January 16, 2026

Tucker has also battled injuries throughout his career, and there have been rumors that he does not like the limelight. Being the 6th most famous person on the Dodgers will certainly help alleviate the bright lights and the pressure that comes with being the second-highest paid player in all of baseball. Going to a team like the Blue Jays or the Mets would have made him the center of attention throughout the lifetime of his contract, and it was clear he did not want that.

The Guardians are a much smaller market with a much smaller payroll. They could never make a signing like this. Fortunately for them, Jose Ramirez took that hometown discount, keeping him a Guardian until at least 2029. Cleveland will take it, as Ramirez has proven to be a better and more valuable player in the short term and the long term.